Cigarette case



April 27, 1937. J. H. HORSLEY CIGARETTE CASE Filed April 29 muerde?? Patented Apr. 27, 1937 PAT QFFIQE CIGARETTE CASE .l ames H. Horsley,

Chicago, Ill., assignor to Shankln Manufacturing Co., Springfield, Ill., a

corporation of Illinois Application April 29, 1935, Serial No. 18,818

7 Claims.

'I'his invention relates to cigarette cases, particularly such cases adapted to be carried in the pocket of a garment. Y

One of the objects of the invention is the provision of such a cigarette case having a sliding cover or closure and in which the cigarettes are effectively protected against injury or ejection by the closure incident to operation thereof to open or close the case.

Another object is the provision of such a case which is of a light and compact construction that includes a ilexible sliding closure and whereinjthe contained cigarettes are effectively protected from injury by the closure incident to its operation to open and close the case.

v Other objects include the provision of a light,

vvcompact and at the same time strong construction for a cigarette case of the character above indicated, which can be manufactured at low cost.

Other and further objects will be indicated or pointed out hereinafter, or will be apparent upon an understanding of the invention.

For the purpose of explaining the invention, I

Villustrate in the drawing forming a part of this vspeciiication, and hereinafter describe, certain AVstructural forms in which the invention may be embodied, but it is to be understood that these are presented for purpose of illustration merely and are not to be construed in any fashion calculated to limit the appended claims short of the true and most comprehensive scope of the invention in the art. It is furthermore to be understood that whereas the invention is herein described as embodied in a cigarette case, it is to be understood that it is appropriate for use in cases or containers for various other articles.

In said drawing,

Fig. 1 is a perspective view of a cigarette case embodying the invention;

Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of Same, parts being broken away;

Fig. 3 is a sectional elevational View on approximately line 3 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is a cross-sectional view of an embodiment like Fig. 1, but illustrating a stop arrangement somewhat different from that shown in Fig. 2; and

Fig. 5 is a sectional elevational view on approximately line 5--5 of Fig. 4.

The nature of the invention will be understood most quickly from an explanation of the embodiments here illustrated, which will now be described.

(Cl. 20G- 41) The case is made up of end members, indicated generally by the reference numeral l0, which end members are connected by a body member or members Il to form a receptacle which is closed at the bottom but open at the top, said receptacle 5 being narrow, viz., of a width such as to accommodate the thickness of a cigarette. This receptacle is adapted to be closed by a slidable, ilexible closure member which is designated generally by the reference numeral l2.

'Ihe end members IIJ may be formed as identical metal stampings having a laterally offset or dished portion Illa with arcuate ends and laterally deected marginal flanges Ib running parallel. with the peripheral wall of the oifset portion I0a 15 so as to provide a channel therebetween. The body member or members are formed to provide continuous parallel walls l la which extend from one end member to the other and are secured. to the laterally offset portions Illa in a suitable fashion, as by means of tongues Ilb extending from their ends and tting through suitable slots in said portions Illa, said tongues being bent over against the outer surfaces of said laterally oifset. portions. The depressions in the outer sides of the end members I0 may be tted with suitable decorative inserts It, secured in place in any appropriate fashion.

The closure l2 is formed of a sheet |2a of strong flexible material to which is secured a plurality of thin decorative slats I2b which run transversely of the sheet and are disposed in close collateral association with one another. 'Ihis closure member is somewhat-shorter than the full peripheral extent of the oiiset portions Illa. The margins of the sheet l2a and ends of the slats 12b are disposed in the channels between the flanges lllb and peripheral walls of the portions llla, so that the closure may slide longitudinally in said channels, its inner surface running adjacent the outer surfaces of the body member. Thus the closure may be slid to a position such as shown in Fig. l, to open the case, or to a position such as illustrated in Fig. 3, to close the case, the closure riding on the peripheral walls of the portions Illa.

Since, in order to provide a case which is desirably thin, light and compact, the slats |2b have to be quite thin and of light material, they are likely to have some flexibility such as to permit their being flexed inwardly more or less, between their points of support on the portions lca. The walls of the body member prevent such flexing of the closure into contact with the contents of y the case, and thus safeguard the contents against .of the beads. l5.

injury or dislodgment by the closure incident to operation thereof.

The receptacle formed by the body member preferably is of such depth that the upper ends of cigarettes placed in upright position therein will project slightly above the body member, substantially as illustrated in Fig. 1, so that they may be grasped individually by the fingers to withdraw them. In order to maintain the cigarettes in more or less upright position in the receptacle, the body member or members may be provided at suitable points with inwardly struck beads or ridges I5 (see Figs. 4 and 5) adapted to contact one or more cigarettes. Fig. 4 shows such an arrangement for so supporting a cigarette at the middle of the case. With such arrangement cigarettes at either side thereof will be prevented from falling down, either by the middle cigarette or by the ridges.

It is desirable to provide a stop arrangement to establish the limit positions of the closure. One stop arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 2, one of the end members l being provided with a stop member E6 projecting into the channel in rwhich the margin of the closure runs, a marginal portion of the closure being notched out as shown at I2a, to accommodate the extent of sliding movement thereof requisite to move it to open and closed positions, the portions of the closure at the end of the notch coming against the stop Vto establish the limit of movement. An alternativestop arrangement is illustrated in Fig. 5,

wherein a stop member l is carried by the closure member and projects inwardly to ride in a groove in the body member, such as the channel of one This stopr member comes against abutments I1 at the ends of such groove to determine the limit of movement of the closure closure member.

The construction above described provides a case which is desirably thin, light and compact and which affords effective protection for its contents and permits their removal with facility.

What I claim is:

l. A case of the class described comprising end members having arcuate upper and lower end portions, a body member shaped to form an arcuate bottom and parallel oppositely disposed side walls, said body member having its side margins connected to said end members to form a narrow receptacle which is open at its top below the arcuate upper ends of the end members, said end members being provided Withinwardly presented channels extending along the outer sides of the bottom and side walls of the body member and arcing upwardly from the top opening thereof, and a iiexible closure having opposite margins slidably retained in such channels whereby said closure may be slid along the outer surfaces of said bottom and side walls to and from a position wherein portions of it form a closure arching over said top opening.

2. A case as specied in claim 1 and wherein the side walls of said body member are arranged for cooperation with a cigarette therein t0 support it in approximately upright position with its upper end at said top opening.

3. A case as specified in claim 1 and wherein said end members are provided with inwardly dished portions forming end walls for the receptacle and guideways for the closure.

4. A case as specified in claim 1 and including cooperating stop members on and concealed by said receptacle and closure for limiting the extent of movement of the latter about the bottom and side walls.

5. A case as specified in claim 1 and including cooperating stop members provided `on said closure and one of said end members and disposed in the channel of the latter.

6. A case as specified in claim 1 and including a stop member carried on the closure and projecting inwardly therefrom and spaced stops provided on the body member for cooperation with said rst mentioned stop to limit movement of the closure in each of opposite directions.

7. A case of the class described comprising, in combination, a body member shaped to form an arcuate bottom and opposite side walls of a receptacle, end members having arcuate upper end portions and formed with inwardly deflected marginal flanges and inwardly dished panels spaced from said flanges to afford intervening channels, said body member having marginal freceptacle, inserts secured in the depressions formed by the dished panels in covering relationship to said lugs, and a closure guided in the channels of the end members for sliding movement along the outer surfaces of the bottom and side walls and over the top opening of the receptacle.

JAMES H. HORSLEY. 

